Farhad Mirza

Early career in Southern Iran

In 1835, seventeen-year-old Farhad Mirza was appointed to manage the affairs of Lorestan and Khuzestan by his brother Bahram Mirza, whom the newly crowned Mohammad Shah had recently placed in charge of the region. Farhad Mirza remained in Southern Iran for two years and ended tenure successfully, for this Mohammad Shah appointed him as governor of Tehran twice. First was in July-August 1837, when Shah launched an campaign to Herat, Second was in December 1839 and January 1840, when Shah marched to Isfahan for suppress revolt of powerful cleric, Mohammad Bagher Shafti. Sixteen months later, Mohammad Shah and his Grand vizier Haji Mirza Aqasi, returned to capital. To the Shah's delight, Farhad Mirza had ably maintained peace and order throughout their absence.

Political crisis and exile

Haji Mirza Aqasi lacked the close bond with Farhad Mirza that he shared with Mohammad Shah and Farhad's older brother, Fereydun Mirza—both of whom he had personally tutored earlier in his career. Mohammad Shah's affection for Farhad Mirza likely unnerved the manipulative grand vizier, who sought to maintain strict control over Shah's relationships. Moreover, Aqasi viewed Farhad Mirza's capability and assertiveness as a potential threat. Nevertheless, as a vizier who intended well for his country, he maintained a functional working relationship with him, Aqasi must also have felt some gratification to see Farhad Mirza's efforts bearing results. In 1840, Farhad Mirza was appointed Deputy governor of Fars to Crown prince Naser al-Din Mirza, formerly giving him title Nayeb ol-Eyaleh (Persian: نایب‌الایاله, lit. 'Deputy of the Governor'), who had succeeded Fereydun Mirza, on advice of Aqasi, who wished to put Farhad Mirza to test. Farhad Mirza's brief 17-month term in Fars disappointed Haji Mirza Aqasi. Soon after taking from office, and before Naser al-Din Mirza's arrival in Shiraz on October-November 1841, Farhad Mirza launched an eight-month military campaign from Kohgiluyeh to Borazjan, Bushehr and finally Fars. With the help of local commanders, he punished Mamasani Lura who robbed the Qashqai tribes and defied the government, collected large amounts of overdue taxes, including 100,000 tomans.

Anglo-Persian tensions

Tensions escalated with the arrival of Sir Charles Murray, the new British envoy in Tehran, who had come to safeguard British interests against possible Persian moves on Herat but had angered the Shah over critical articles in The Times. In a letter to Mirza Aqa Khan dated 28 June 1855, Murray declared Farhad Mirza under British protection. Mirza Aqa Khan rejected the declaration as null and void, shifting from a respectful to openly derogatory tone toward Farhad Mirza and calling him ignorant and unfit for office. Although it is unclear how much longer Farhad Mirza remained at the legation, Britain maintained his protected status until early December 1856, when Consul Richard Stevens left Tehran and diplomatic relations completely broke down. With the outbreak of Anglo-Persian War, Farhad Mirza immediately wrote a letter to French Chargé d'affaires, Arthur de Gobineau, who was now responsible for defending interests of British in country, denying that he was a British protege and pledging his full allegiance to shah.

Governorship of Kurdistan and Fars

Farhad Mirza served nearly four years on that relatively ineffective council, aligning with its conservative faction. On early 1868, he was appointed governor of Kurdistan and dispatched to Sanandaj. Determined to make an immediate, intimidating impression, he lured the region's most feared rebel into a trap and hanged him in front of his stunned troops. This incident along with similar acts earned him a lasting reputation for brutality. According to the chronicler E'temad os-Saltaneh, Farhad Mirza himself boasted to Naser al-Din Shah that he had executed six hundred people. A British agent who witnessed Farhad Mirza's second term as governor of Fars from 1876 to 1881, shortly after his return from the Hajj provided a chilling account of widespread torture, ruthless reprisals and brutal executions carried out by the governor's forces. The agent also reports on prevalent corruption, bribery and virtual extortion in name of tax collection. The shah was happy to see revenues coming in. In mid-1879 shah wrote to Farhad Mirza, It is enough for us that you are maintaining order in the area, and you send your taxes on time or early, and you do not owe [us anything] for the three years that you have been the governor [of the area]. Farhad Mirza reacted with hostility whenever his autocratic methods were questioned or when mechanisms were introduced to address public grievances. For instance, 1878/1879, when Mirza Yusuf Ashtiani implored him to show greater tolerance toward his subjects and heed the Shah's suggestions, Farhad Mirza famously retorted that he was "Hakim, not the president of a republic." Similarly, when central government mandated installation of "justice boxes" (Sanduq-e Adalat) in major mosques to collect public petitions, Farhad Mirza vehemently rejected initiative, threatening to resign if boxes were placed in Fars.

Conflict with Mirza Hosein Khan Sepahsalar

With the viziriate of Mirza Hosein Khan Sepahsalar on late November 1871, a new chapter began in political career of Farhad Mirza. The grand vizier's progressive ideas and plans for the country stood in contrast to Farhad Mirza's highly conservative religious views on administration of Persia. Farhad Mirza himself saw the reformist vizier as an obliterator of the "foundation of Muslim Sharia", who was guilty of spreading word "liberty" among the people.

Farhad Mirza's hostility toward Sepahsalar deepened during 1871–1872, when grand vizier began reviewing and occasionally overturning rulings from Fars court. Yet despite their friction, Naser al-Din Shah's trust in Farhad Mirza remained intact. On late 1872, shortly after granting Reuter Concession and preparing for his first European tour, Shah appointed Farhad Mirza head of the cabinet to oversee Regent Kamran Mirza Nayeb es-Saltaneh. Nevertheless, both the Shah and Sepahsalar acted cautiously, issuing a strict administrative manual that clearly delineated the duties of Farhad Mirza and Kamran Mirza to be followed "without dissent". Five months the Shah and grand vizier spent touring Europe provided ample opportunity for Farhad Mirza and Sepahsalar's other opponents who also enjoyed Russian support to unite against him. Immediately upon royal party's return on September 1873, coalition demanded Sepahsalar's dismissal. Sepahsalar himself believed that Farhad Mirza had gone so far as to plot his assassination. Farhad Mirza's triumphant reaction to Sepahsalar's dismissal was starkly captured in a personal marginal note written on flyleaf of a manuscript from his library. In it, he likened destructive impact of Sepahsalar's tenure to that of Mongol conquests, noting with characteristic moral superiority that God would surely reward everyone who had contributed to the grand vizier's downfall. Before any divine reward arrived, however, conspirators faced the immediate censure of Shah, who had quickly come to regret accepting his grand vizier’s resignation. In response, Naser al-Din Shah banished Farhad Mirza back to Kurdistan, removing him from his post shortly thereafter.